I confess up front, I’ve never actually played Katamari. I obviously know of it, the game series where you roll around gathering up everything in the environment into as big a ball as possible, in order to impress the King of All Cosmos. In the 20 years since Katamari Damacy launched, principal designer Keita Takahashi has worked on a variety of esoteric and novel games including Noby Noby Boy where players had to stretch “Boy” longer and longer, to , a cute puzzle-platformer. to a T is perhaps Takahashi’s most traditional game so far, being an episodic third-person adventure set in a small open world. Nevertheless, it’s still stuffed full of the wackiness and lighthearted charm which has been the hallmark of every game he’s been involved with.

You play as Teen (you can rename them), a young person turning 13 who has a pretty major handicap; they’re stuck in the T-pose, with their arms straight out to the sides at all times. This has long been a part of video games as it is often used as the “default” pose for characters before they are animated, but here it is used fancifully. Thankfully, Teen’s life has been adapted to take account of this, involving extra long spoons in order to eat, as well as the assistance from their friendly and faithful white fluffy Dog (you can also rename the dog, I named mine Rupert). Your dog helps with things like brushing your teeth, picking out clothes and even going to the bathroom. No other humans appear to have the same T-pose condition as Teen, but others in the world have to adjust to their differences, such as Giraffe, an anthropomorphized giraffe who runs various food outlets around town.

Teen begins the game scared of going to school and being bullied by some unpleasant kids, but their unique disability also has granted them a unique benefit; when twirling extremely fast, they can take flight for short bursts like a helicopter. After a mysterious accident causes one of the town’s wind turbines to damage your school, you embark on an adventure to discover the cause and perhaps learn more about yourself, your mother and your friends along the way. The story is decent but it is delivered at quite a stately speed, with each episode only teasing out a titbit of new info. It is also very pointedly aimed at children, with the ideal age range being about 8-12. For adults, you can certainly enjoy the very cute and easy-going atmosphere, but be prepared for quite a bit of repetition and handholding.

Gameplay is divided into episodes, a bit like a children’s TV series, with an incredibly catchy theme tune and closing song. The theme song, “You are the Perfect Shape”, is an absolute earworm that I simply can’t stop singing. These cutscenes repeat in full between each episode, usually only with very minor differences, but they can be skipped. You can control Teen in third person, navigating them around the environment, and certain goals will require you to control Teen’s arms or hands in order to achieve a task. For example, eating cereal involves picking up the cereal box and tipping the contents into the bowl, before adding milk. Many of these tasks can be repeated, or skipped on different days. In between the narrative beats, there are also other mini-games, such as various food-based challenges Giraffe might offer, like eating the most popcorn in one minute.

While in some episodes your roaming of your home town is fairly limited, by later episodes it opens up a lot more, allowing a fuller exploration in order to collect hidden coins (Hospas), which can be spent at a variety of shops, unlocking additional clothing options for Teen, more shoes and school bags, as well as more hats for your dog. You can also later find a hairdressing salon down on the beach, run by a large crab who will cut your hair in different styles, depending on your talking to people around town with interesting haircuts and giving him inspiration. It’s not a massive world but it feels big enough to occasionally need to refer to the map, and once you gain the ability to fly, you can also explore various rooftops and previously inaccessible places.

Visually this absolutely is in keeping with the Katamari and Wattam style, with characters looking a bit like more detailed versions of the Nintendo’s Mii’s, but with greater expression. Voice acting is all in Simlish, which is certainly easier for localization. The entire experience is infused with this cute and charming vibe which extends even to the menu interface of various birds who land on Teen’s outstretched arms whenever you pause the game. In the same manner as , you can also activate a variety of visual filters and colours, should you so desire. The music is uniformly great too, again very breezy and uplifting.

While it’s not particularly complex or taxing, to a T has a wonderful sense of positivity and spirit which permeates every iota. Its message of body positivity and acceptance of disabilities is commendable, even if it is quite slow going to finally get that message across. Nevertheless, if you have children of the right age-range or are a child at heart, to a T is a heartwarming adventure with plenty of laughs along the way.